Cross Country Finishes in 10th, 11th in Paul Short Invite

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech men’s and women’s cross country continued its strong season, finishing 10th and 11th, respectively, in the 40-plus field at the Paul Short Invitational in Pennsylvania.

“It was a great day for Georgia Tech cross country with both the men’s and women’s teams having very strong showings,” head coach Alan Drosky said. “Both races had huge and very competitive fields and the weather was great.”

The men were once again paced by an impressive showing from Nahom Solomon, who finished fourth overall with a 23:41 time. Alex Grady finished 46 seconds back for a time of 24:27 (49th), while Mitchell Sanders and Patrick Fleming round out the top 100, finishing 88th and 98th, respectively. The team finished with a total time 2:02:35 for the race.

Running in the Open Division, sophomore Avery Bartlett ran what would’ve been a personal-best 24:47 time, finishing third overall.

“Nahom was outstanding with his fourth-place finish and as a team the men were very solid,” Drosky continued. “We are still fully committed to getting out fast and that hurt us a bit. So that is a big takeaway for the men that they need to work on. Avery Bartlett raced very well in the open race and would have been fourth for the team, so we will add him in and we’ll be stronger next time out.”

The women battled hard as team, with Amy Ruiz picking up a 37th-place finish and a time of 20:40. Mary Prouty and freshman Nicole Fegans rounded out Tech’s top-100 finishers with 20:44 (41st) and 21:03 (77th) times, respectively.

“The women as a team were terrific, getting out fast and positioning themselves well,” Drosky said. “We’ll keep working on holding on better over the last half of the race, but this team has improved leaps and bounds. Amy and Mary executed their races very well. Nicole, Hailey, and Mary Claire gave us a very strong top-five.”

Georgia Tech cross country returns to action on Friday, Oct. 13 in the Alabama Crimson Classic.